Technical Field
The present invention relates to a device for rinsing a container with a rinsing medium, for example a device in the form of a rinser, air rinser or ionized air rinser.
State of Art
It is known to rinse containers in beverage filling plants by means of the introduction of a rinsing medium before they are actually filled with a fill product. For this purpose, a so-called rinser is usually provided upstream of a filler by means of which the applicable fill product is introduced into the containers that are to be filled. The containers to be filled, for example bottles, are substantially disposed upside down in the rinser, i.e. with their mouths oriented substantially downwards. The applicable rinsing medium is then introduced into the container, in order to clean the interior of the container and in particular to remove any particles that may still be present in the interior of the container. By means of this rinsing, the interior of the container is prepared to receive the actual fill product, which is introduced into the rinsed container in a downstream filler.
The rinsing medium that is used in this case can be for example water, sterilized water or another rinsing fluid. It is also possible to use air, sterile air, ionized air or another rinsing gas or rinsing gas mixture as a rinsing medium. When the interior of the container is rinsed with fluid, the applicable rinsing medium then flows out of the downwards oriented mouth of the container that is retained in the rinsing device.
When the rinsing is carried out with gaseous media, i.e. for example air, sterile air or ionized air, the rinsing medium similarly flows into the container and out again through its mouth. Rinsing with gaseous media achieves, firstly, a specified atmosphere inside the container, for example with a sterile gas. Secondly, dust, dirt and other particles are picked up in the flow of gas and thereby flushed out of the container. By means of the use of ionized air, it is possible for example to counteract charging of the interior walls of the container, so that electrostatic adhesion of particles in the container can be reduced, and the particles can accordingly be efficiently flushed out.
The applicable rinsing medium is introduced into the container that is to be treated via a nozzle, which has at its upper end a medium outlet, out of which the applicable rinsing medium flows into the interior of the container that is to be rinsed. In this, it is known to dispose the container over the rinsing nozzle such that the rinsing nozzle extends into the mouth area of the container that is to be treated, i.e. into the interior of the container that is to be treated. In order to dispose the container in this manner over the nozzle, it is necessary to lift the container or the nozzle a relatively large distance.
It is further known, for example from DE 10 2010 043 014 A1, to insert the nozzle with its medium outlet into the container when the container has already been positioned above the nozzle.
Due to the moving parts inside the rinsing device, in particular due to the fact that a lift or relative displacement of the nozzle with respect to a guide is provided, abraded matter can be produced, which then undesirably enters the container that is to be rinsed.